Another post, another morning with a trip to the airport. This time I drop my youngest niece at Logan after her weekend visit from MI to see her sister at Northeastern. They are under strict orders to be ready on time, as they seem to approach the airport arrival with the same laissez-faire attitude as their mother. 🤦🏼♀️ (In any case I may need to start looking up Uber fares and charging family half price for this personal livery service. 😂😂😂)
In all serious, I love both of my sisters, I love all five of my sisters’ kids, and I especially love this dynamic duo. They’re two years apart and are thick as thieves, so the older one going to college has been a big hit to the younger one (Junior in high school). As the aunt, well, I just sit here in semi-shock that my youngest niece is old enough to travel to Boston alone for a weekend to visit her college-aged sister, my second-youngest niece. (Damn you, Father Time.) And I marvel almost continuously at what amazing humans they are—both self-aware, sensitive, smart, empathetic, and very funny (among other things). Especially together. The many traits they do share often manifest differently and they emerge as singularly unique people, independent though clearly cut from the same cloth.
Last night Kerri and I had the pleasure of meeting them for dinner (delicious wings and pizza at Woody’s Grill & Tap) followed by a snowy walk to Amorino on Newbury Street for gelato for some and hot chocolate for others (a study in contrasts!) before dropping them at the dorm with one last stern aunt-ly reminder to be ready on time.
(Quick aside as I have picked up some new readers of late—this gets written on a weekly but rotating day schedule and each day has its own theme, which you can learn about here.)
Anyhow…without further ado, I bring you the Monday Maiku:
MLK, Junior. One more, in the name of love. Keep on fighting on.
MLK Day has gotten a little more air time than is customary around here due to the recent (unveiled on Friday) installation of a new sculpture on the Boston Common honoring him and his wife, called The Embrace. (I can’t wait to see it.) It leaves me thinking about my place in the world and when I consider my general approach to life, that of influencing and enjoying life in my sphere of control, I wonder if I’ve been remiss in not trying to grow that sphere of control to some degree, to some extent, for greater impact, for lasting outcomes.
Sigh.
Anyway, on this day, as we observe one of the more (IMO) solemn holidays, I’m feeling a little bit more heavy in terms of what it means in terms of individual responsibility, and in general I am trying to be a lot more appreciative of all the things I don’t have to fight for every day, namely basic human rights like dignity and respect. But in that thinking there’s also a reminder that just because I don’t need to fight for them for myself, that I do need to fight for them for others, because that’s the way of this stratified, divided, polarized, hierarchical world.
Sigh.
Crank this one up at some point today, if not now:
I’ve also seen several references of late that today (the third Monday in January) is also known as “Blue Monday, the saddest day of the year.” What? Jesus, they’ll give anything a day won’t “they”? Yes it’s the dead of winter but it’s also staying lighter later—there’s good and bad in every day so there’s really no need to label it and institutionalize the blues. In any case, all the talk of “Blue Monday” triggers memories of this old classic—enjoy!
Beyond that, about Blue Monday I say FAKE NEWS!!! Total BS. (The best way to avoid feeling bad about yourself for not keeping resolutions this time of year is simple—don’t make them! Be reasonable. Find other days and other strategies for creating change.) Buck the Blue Monday BS and go do something fun…together let’s make Blue Monday extinct!
In any case, I hope you work for a company that values DEI and that you get today off, though regardless of whether you are at work or at play I encourage you to reflect on the why of this holiday. Me, well, I love flipping through both familiar (like the one in today’s headline, “Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”) and obscure (like “True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.”) MLK quotes and reflecting on how his words fit and feel in today’s sociopolitical environment and how I am experiencing my life in the context of both.
Thanks for being here—I know the back-to-back Friday-Monday weeks with The Pundit can be a grind so I especially appreciate your persistence and commitment.
Have a great week.
Love you too.